I joined the Hope College Physics Department in the fall of 2007. I teach in all areas of the physics curriculum, from introductory classes to upper-level lectures and labs. My research interests are highly multidisciplinary, drawing from chemistry and materials engineering as well as physics.
I received my Ph.D. in physics (minor in chemistry) in 2002 from Cornell University under the direction of Héctor Abruña and did postdoctoral research in the Paul Weiss Group at The Pennsylvania State University. Before coming to Hope, I taught for two years at Washington & Jefferson College in the Physics Department.
My bachelor’s degree is in physics from Oberlin College, and I received an M.Phil. in physics from the University of Cambridge after spending a year at Churchill College, Cambridge as a Winston Churchill Foundation Scholar.
I was born and grew up in Wooster, OH. My parents, Charles and Barbara, taught for 36 years at The College of Wooster and retired in 2008. I have two sisters. Ellen is works for the Baylor University Libraries in Waco, TX. Karen lives in Grand Rapids, MI and works in food service at Calvin College.